Two days ago marked 3 years of sobriety from drugs and alcohol for me. While I was very proud of it, I couldn’t help but think, “who cares?” Not in the sense that no one congratulated me, because I was extremely blessed to be surrounded by amazing people who made a card of encouragement for me, and got the recipe for my favorite dessert, GOB CAKE!! I was extremely humbled and almost brought to tears, because God has brought me to a place where I am surrounded by friends/brothers and sisters in Christ who genuinely care about each other, and serve God wholeheartedly instead of just people who get drunk and high together. The reason the thought, who cares, kept playing in my head is because I did absolutely nothing to gain these 3 amazing years that deserves the glory. In rehab Christ intervened in a very intense way, and I had no other choice but to surrender to Him and let Him run the show. I’m not saying that the first year or so wasn’t hard and that I didn’t receive incredible help from some amazing people, but I will no longer take on the identity of an addict or alcoholic like we do in AA meetings. I view God as the author of my life, and if God is an author then he is definitely the best one in the business and does not write a bad story. For me to continually speak out that I am a drug addict or alcoholic is like rereading the first chapter of a book over and over again. My true identity is a CHILD OF GOD. He is the one who has gained three years of sobriety two days ago. When Christ died on the cross he conquered death, he conquered sin, he conquered my addiction. Before I ever came into existence my addiction was defeated, I just had to hand it over to Him. He has conquered lust, selfishness, greed, etc. You name it, He defeated it. Not one person should put their identity in things that “they” have overcome because it has already been overcome through the blood of Christ. When we put our identity in things of this world, like money, success, or power, and someone comes along who is better than us, our identity will be lost. We will be lost. There is not one person on this earth that could take away your identity as a child and ambassador of Christ. So, I encourage all of you, drop what YOU THINK you are and be who GOD SAYS you are.
